Piano Concerto, Ryabinin Fantasia, etc : Scherbakov, D.Yablonsky / Russian Philharmonic

ANTON STEPANOVICH ARENSKY (1861-1906)

Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 2*
Fantasia on Russian Folksongs, Op. 48*
To the Memory of Suvorov
Symphonic Scherzo

Konstantin Scherbakov (piano)*
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
Dmitry Yablonsky, conductor

Recorded at Studio 5, Russian State TV & Radio Company KULTURA, Moscow, Russia, 6-17 March 2008
Producers & Editors: Pavel Lavrenenkov, Natalya Ruzhanskaya

A student of Rimsky-Korsakov and later a teacher of Rachmaninov, Scriabin and Gliere, Anton Arensky was a precocious composer whose youthful Piano Concerto combines Lisztian dramatic bravura with Chopin's virtuosic lyricism, the 5/4 metre of its final movement finding its way into Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony. The Symphonic Scherzo is probably also an early work, while the Fantasia on Russian Folksongs (also called Ryabinin Fantasia) of 1899 and To the memory of Suvorov (Pamyati Surova) of 1900, which celebrated General Suvorov's triumphs in the Russo-Turkish War, are works of Arensky's maturity. ( NAXOS )